Paonias excaecatus
4405320
226124327
2008-07-16T22:39:35Z
71.94.177.62
/* References */
{{Taxobox
| name = Blinded Sphinx
| image = Paonias excaecatus sjh.JPG
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Adult specimen
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Arthropod]]a
| classis = [[Insect]]a
| ordo = [[Lepidoptera]]
| unranked_familia = [[Macrolepidoptera]]
| superfamilia = [[Bombycoidea]]
| familia = [[Sphingidae]]
| subfamilia = [[Sphinginae]]
| genus = ''[[Paonias]]''
| species = '''''P. excaecatus'''''
| binomial = ''Paonias excaecatus''
| binomial_authority = ([[James Edward Smith|J. E. Smith]], 1797)
}}
The '''blinded sphinx''' ('''''Paonias excaecatus''''') is a [[moth]] of the family [[Sphingidae]]. Adult moths are [[nocturnal]]; after a brief bout of activity after dusk, they prefer the later hours of the night it seems (Fullard & Napoleone 2001).
==References==
* Fullard, James H. & Napoleone, Nadia (2001): Diel flight periodicity and the evolution of auditory defences in the Macrolepidoptera. ''Animal Behaviour'' '''62'''(2): 349–368. <small>{{doi|10.1006/anbe.2001.1753}}</small> [http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3full/reprints/FullNapolDielAB.pdf PDF fulltext]
Blinded Sphinx eggs are greenish-yellow and small. Hornworms hatch after about 8 days. Primary food sources for blinded sphinx hornworms are deciduous trees such as willows, birch and cherries, as well as shrubberies. Like the rest of the Sphingidae family, they shallowly burrow into soil to pupate. Once they leave their pupa, the adults almost immediately mate. Adult blinded sphinxes do not feed.
==External links==
*[http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/spexcaec.htm Blinded Sphinx] Life Cycle
{{Sphingidae-stub}}
[[Category:Paonias]]